Laptop Won't Boot after Loading Linux

[pauldemet]

Am trying to solve a strange problem. Have a laptop that works just fine when booting Windows or DOS. When I boot Linux and turn the system off, then the laptop will not even get through the BIOS. It turns itself off after a few seconds. I have tried Astra Linux and Ubuntu with the same result. If I boot up to the Grub selection screen and then turn the system off, the laptop still boots correctly. When I remove all power sources to the laptop, it will then boot correctly one time and then the problem returns.

So what is the Linux kernel doing to my system that is causing it not to boot? Could the kernel be changing my system configuration?

I have compared the CMOS under DOS and Linux and there are four bytes that are different but I don't have the CMOS map for the device.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

[hagfish52]

Are you doing graceful shutdowns of the operating systems or just hitting the power switch? Also you may want to get into the BIOS and check the boot order. Preferably it should be CDROM drive (if you have one), and then HDD. If you have USB selected as the first boot device, the computer is probably hanging up on that.

[pauldemet]

Yes, I am gracefully powering down. I cannot get into the BIOS because the system powers off before video is even active. It is very early in the boot cycle.

[hagfish52]

I suspect an intermittent hardware problem. If you have a "brick" power supply for the laptop you might try swapping that out, but of course it might be something else. Linux installations shouldn't cause a problem like this.

[charu86]

just check the location for the boot loader..
also, did you install windows first or linux ?

[fc98661]

Yes, I am gracefully powering down. I cannot get into the BIOS because the system powers off before video is even active. It is very early in the boot cycle.

Have you tried booting into safe mode?

[polypagan]

Pauldemet,

Of course there is something going on here that you have overlooked. Wish I knew what it was.

If I understood the symptom correctly, GRUB can always be reached. It's after that point that your results seem to diverge, depending upon whether you choose Win or Lin. Do I have that right?

You write that the problem occurs very early in the boot process (before video is initialized). How do you get past that to boot Win?

How consistent are these observations? Sometimes a randomly intermittent problem can appear to only occur in one circumstance and not another, even though that turns out to be mere probabilities. Have you managed to boot Win flawlessly again and again (may take a while)? How many trials are you reporting on?

The observation that running on battery still shows the problem eliminates the power brick. I am doubtful that Win safe mode will teach you anything.

I am mystified by your CMOS RAM being different for Win & Lin. Anyone have insight into that? Is you BIOS up-to-date? How's the CMOS battery?

My hunch is that you have a failing piece of hardware and the difficulty of booting is making diagnosis difficult.

Note that MANY OF US are using Linux every day and if the kernel were doing something to your system to make it not boot, that would be a known problem.

Best of luck to you!

[pauldemet]

Thank you for all your input. Every suggestion was appreciated.

This is not a sporadic hardware problem because the same thing happens to multiple laptops. All of these laptops work fine with Windows but all fail with Linux. The original O/S was AstraLinux which failed the same way as the current Ubuntu. The two operating systems were installed on different hard drives.

I cannot boot into safe mode and it is not the boot loader. When I say it resets early, it occurs within 2-3 seconds. The BIOS is still very early in the boot process maybe even in the boot block still. If I could hook up to a bus and obtain the Port 80 code output, it would provide additional clues.

[hagfish52]

Once again, how are you getting into Windows if the computers shut down within 2 to 3 seconds?

Besides installing Linux on your computers, is there anything else in common hardware-wise, like maybe you are using the same wall outlet adapter for all of your computers?

Most laptops have only one hard drive. What do you mean when you say the two operating systems were installed on different hard drives? Do you mean Windows and Linux were installed on two separate partitions on a single hard drive?

[EDIT]

Are you trying to boot Linux off of an external USB hard drive?

[pauldemet]

I have two seperate bootable devices - one with Windows and one with Linux. I only have one installed at a time. The Windows device works fine. I never have a problem powering on and off. The Linux device is where the problem occurs. I have installed Linux on both a hard drive and a CF through the USB interface. Both exhibit the problem. This is why the problem is difficult - it would appear that Linux is changing my system configuration.